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The explosion of containerization in software development is driving business leaders to take notice. Its compelling business benefits are driving rapid adoption. So what accounts for all the hype? Containers provide a simplified way to build,...

The overall flash market was estimated to be approximately $15 billion in 2016 and is expected to be nearly $20 billion by 2020, with the all-flash segment growing at a nearly 17 percent compound annual growth rate, according to HPE. So why is...

As of 2017, virtualization is still among the top ten IT priorities for small and medium businesses. During the first wave of wide-scale VM adoption, smaller companies found challenges with virtualization technology—licenses were expensive, and management was difficult. If you looked at virtualizing your data center a few years ago, it may have made sense for you to wait—but not anymore. Virtualization technologies have now matured to the point where they make more sense for the average SMB. The benefits to the business are more fully realized, and easier to achieve. As a result, budget for virtualization were forecast to grow during...

Small and midsize businesses find themselves in an interesting place. There are tools available that can put SMBs on an even footing with massive enterprises, but the proliferation of the cloud, and associated buzzwords, can present a confusing environment for businesses. How do you separate the critical infrastructure from stuff that's just nice to have? Here's one way to think about it. For new applications and software products, time-to-market is crucial. Cloud strategies that can increase your investment and allows SMBs to deliver applications with the same speed and scale as larger enterprises might just be worth the investment. 1....

The most powerful IT hardware on earth needs powerful infrastructure management tools to go with it. Servers like the HPE Hyper Converged 380 contain the most powerful Intel® Xeon® processors, plus up to 1536 GB of RAM and over 25 TB of memory—yet without robust infrastructure management tools, they're simply bare metal. Good infrastructure management tools act as a force multiplier—they magnify and focus the power of the resources they control. When used correctly, your infrastructure will be easier to manage, deploy and make changes allowing your business to benefit. Here are five ways that a good infrastructure management tool...

You’ve heard the statistics related to flash arrays: Experience 99.9999% uptime. Reduce your storage footprint by 80%. And, within the next two years, the number of organizations using at least 50% flash storage is expected to triple. There’s no doubt enterprise flash storage drastically improves performance, and some offer features and benefits that can allow for much easier disaster recovery, high resiliency, and unparalleled data mobility. But before you commit to a specific product or vendor, you should assess your organization’s business needs and data strategy to separate the “nice-to-haves” from the critical...

Faced with the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, administrators struggle to inventory devices on their network and identify potential security risks. Imagine it: Having a clear understanding of the devices on your network is the first pillar of information security, but IoT devices are so numerous as to escape audits. So how do you secure an environment if there's a risk? Reasons to secure the IoT According to a recent study by Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, 56% of enterprises have already adopted the IoT—but of those, 84% have already experienced a security breach. Why this happens depends on a number...

It used to be that you could get away with a server refresh project once every five years. The drumbeat of obsolescence has increased its tempo lately, with three years the norm. Consolidating old servers and configuring new ones isn't a task that's made easier by its frequency. So how do you keep up with the prevailing tides? Some companies are turning to Composable Infrastructure - but what is it and why does its adoption signal a revolution in IT? What are the concrete benefits of Composable Infrastructure? Rapid Provisioning One major advantage of Composable Infrastructure is that it autoconfigures. When businesses have...

Just when we thought the job could not get more stressful…ransomware hits our environments with a vengeance. This weekend’s attacks showcase the increasing threat of ransomware and the disruption it can cause. More than 4,000 ransomware attacks have occurred every day since the beginning of 2016. That's a 300% increase over 2015, where 1,000 ransomware attacks were seen per day. Something dark and dangerous is lurking in the ether; an unthinkable nightmare scenario that sounds more like science fiction than the next challenge in IT. An invisible, untouchable enemy has rendered hospitals, large freight companies, retailers and more...

It’s Mother’s Day, and we think Moms in Technology are pretty special. Some words from a fast-moving Mom in Technology, Helen Waters, an Executive Vice President of MEDITECH who has been on the cutting edge of technology for over a decade. During our conversation we found a lot of insights that we think other mothers in technology could relate to as well as some advice for younger women. Women in the field of technology are definitely in the minority, so why did you decide to pursue a career in tech? I came out of college with interest in software because it was booming in the 80’s. When I arrived at my first company, I...

In today’s IT environment of always-on business and a constant need to reduce costs, you can’t afford even a single hour of downtime. This is especially true, considering that just one hour of an infrastructure failure can cost your company up to $100,000 per hour.[1] How can you manage increasingly smaller budgets while also working to lower the risk and TCO of your most critical workload solutions? Your answer: Working with Comport Technology Services and HPE Hyper Converged 380, powered by Intel® Xeon® Processors . With the help of HPE Hyper Converged 380, you’re able to get firmly on the path to composable infrastructure,...

Virtualization brings huge efficiencies to any modern IT environment. When you have the ability to replicate servers instantly, provide redundant systems for immediate fail-over, and provision required hardware as needed, you are able to create an environment that is both protected and cost-effective. But, not just any virtualization solution will do. In this idea-driven and cost-reduction economy, you need a simpler, faster virtualization solution – one that can be managed by just one IT generalist vs. numerous IT specialists in order to help you further reduce costs. With the help of Comport Technology Solutions and partnering...

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It is a wild, fast-paced world out there, particularly when it comes to healthcare IT solutions and EHR modifications. If you are a healthcare provider, today’s demands on your IT staff and systems are almost impossibly high. Patients demand privacy and security for their most sensitive data....

As healthcare data centers are modernized and productivity-enhancing applications are introduced, data and information lifecycle management become even more critical. The rapid growth of healthcare data has resulted in increased backup times,...

Healthcare delivery has undergone significant changes in the past decade. Hospitals are facing increasing pressure to demonstrate value so they can raise HCAHPS scores and qualify for higher reimbursements. More simply, they are trying to improve...

Containerized applications are a newer addition to the continually-evolving IT infrastructure. We’ve moved from purely physical environments to virtualized, first for non-critical applications and then, as our comfort levels increased, for our critical applications. In fact, some organizations have become over 95% virtualized! But virtualization has hit a roadblock - because it must emulate the hardware it becomes infrastructure-dependent. Looking beyond virtualization are ‘containerized applications.’ This may be a promising strategic technology for future applications and deployment models in healthcare. Containers are a...

The annual SHIEC conference that I attended last week in Indianapolis provided a rare chance to enjoy actual ‘face time’ with colleagues and subject matter experts. Attendees included Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) from across the country, vendor collaboratives, state and federal government agencies, physicians and other stakeholders who all have a part in improving healthcare interoperability. HIEs are data sharing organizations - hospitals, physicians and other settings of care that collect and share health data for patient care. HIEs combine technology with data trust agreements to share this information among community...

The healthcare industry has seen a surge of new medical devices enter their facilities with the explosion of Internet of Things (IoT). This innovation has created a huge opportunity to improve medical care and patient wellness. IoT devices include implantable technology, such as pacemakers, as well as external devices, such as infusion pumps, heart monitors, and scanning equipment. Hospitals and care facilities have hundreds to thousands of these devices within their facility, often unmonitored or unmanaged. These IoT devices are ripe for compromise. The reality is that these devices provide prime opportunities for hackers to do their...

Small and midsize businesses find themselves in an interesting place. There are tools available that can put SMBs on an even footing with massive enterprises, but the proliferation of the cloud, and associated buzzwords, can present a confusing environment for businesses. How do you separate the critical infrastructure from stuff that's just nice to have? Here's one way to think about it. For new applications and software products, time-to-market is crucial. Cloud strategies that can increase your investment and allows SMBs to deliver applications with the same speed and scale as larger enterprises might just be worth the investment. ...

Healthcare data is the holy grail for hackers Healthcare ransomware attacks continue to make headlines and while security vulnerabilities exist, there’s no sign of them slowing down. However, some entities are more at risk than others, and hospitals present a tempting target for attackers. “When a hacker attacks a financial institution and gets your credit card, that information is valuable to them for a certain amount of time” says Erik Krucker, CTO at Comport Consulting. “If they have your personal information such as your healthcare information, where you were born, your social security number, those things are much more...

It’s Mother’s Day, and we think Moms in Technology are pretty special. Some words from a fast-moving Mom in Technology, Helen Waters, an Executive Vice President of MEDITECH who has been on the cutting edge of technology for over a decade. During our conversation we found a lot of insights that we think other mothers in technology could relate to as well as some advice for younger women. Women in the field of technology are definitely in the minority, so why did you decide to pursue a career in tech? I came out of college with interest in software because it was booming in the 80’s. When I arrived at my first company, I...

US Healthcare continues to be in flux as political parties battle back and forth. The only certainty is that more change is coming. The repercussions of these changes are as complex as the politics that led us to this point. One emerging danger in the current situation is the wait and see attitude. Many providers are living in ‘the in-between state of mind’, and they are falling behind as a result. As we are seeing, there is no fast and comprehensive reboot of US health law. Healthcare laws such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA/ObamaCare), Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and the 21st Century Cures Act...

Just when momentum is perhaps building around reform initiatives, new value-based payment formulas, interoperability and a generally continuous focus on improving our healthcare system… the unexpected happens. I am not going to venture into the ugly realm of one party’s approach over the other, as my deepest concern is the politicization of health reform. When we pick sides and draw lines and only discuss ‘right’ vs ‘left’ and not the multitude of specific issues facing our nation’s healthcare system, we all tend to lose. In the weeks that followed election night, much speculation about what might happen has been the...

Robotic surgery. Sensor-laden pacemakers. Confidential electronic health records (EHRs). Telemedicine. Electronic prescription software. Numerous important aspects of healthcare delivery require always-available technology. The information recorded through these technologies resides in databases, which also need to be highly reliable. If the technology is unavailable or the corresponding databases don’t have continuous uptime or reliability, non-responsive systems can negatively impact physicians, administrators, and most of all patient care. Plus, IT departments in general are notoriously understaffed, leaving not enough time to do...

Just when we thought the job could not get more stressful…we took on Meaningful Use, Omnibus, ICD-10, EMR upgrades, breach avoidance and risk assessments. We’re gearing up for population health management, ACOs, value-based purchasing, MACRA, market consolidation and the unknown frontiers of health reform. No problem. Suddenly, something dark and dangerous is lurking on the west coast; an unthinkable nightmare scenario that sounds more like science fiction than the next challenge in healthcare IT. An invisible, untouchable enemy has rendered an entire hospital effectively ‘down’ from an IT perspective. After almost two weeks under...